Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency to recruit 300 new driving examiners; and how many and what proportion of the examiners that have been recruited are conducting practical driving tests on a full-time basis as at 2 September 2022.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Driver testing services were significantly disrupted during the pandemic, which has led to a high demand for learners who are now wanting to take their driving test. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as it can.
As of 26 August 2022, the total number of new driving examiners (DE) in place and testing was 313. There are 153 new entrant DEs in the process of being trained.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June to Question 14617, with reference to the around £780 million funding allocated for bus infrastructure from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements, how much and what proportion of that funding has been (a) allocated to (i) local authorities and (ii) city region partners and (b) spent by those authorities and partnerships on expenditure other than that for bus infrastructure.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government has committed to investing £5.7bn through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) in the transport networks of eight city regions in England over the next five years until 2027. Settlements were confirmed to 7 eligible Mayoral Combined Authorities in April 2022 based on proposals put forward by Mayors. The funding is distributed to the Mayoral Combined Authorities, who will report regularly to the Department for Transport on how the funding is spent. Negotiation of a settlement for the North East region is pending appropriate governance being in place.
CRSTS will support capital investments in public and sustainable transport across a range of modes including rail, bus, tram, and walking and cycling. Based on the programmes set out by city regions, this is expected to include an investment of approximately £780m in bus interventions over this Parliament.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June to Question 14617, with reference to the £42 million per year funding for Local Transport Authorities under the Bus Service Operators Grant scheme, how much and what proportion of that funding has been spent by those authorities on expenditure other than directly financing bus routes in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department each year sends a survey to all Local Transport Authorities who receive funding from BSOG requesting they provide the Department with information as to how this funding is applied. This survey is undertaken on a voluntary basis. For financial years prior to 2021/2022 insufficient information is available from responses to the survey in order to enable the Department to provide this information. Changes to the information requested in the survey undertaken in 2021 enable the following information to be provided.
|
| 2020/21 BSOG | |
Local Transport Authority |
| Spend on "Non-Bus" | % Spend on "Non-Bus" |
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Bedford Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Blackpool Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Bracknell Forest |
| - | - |
Bradford MBC |
| £0 | 0% |
Brighton and Hove City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Buckinghamshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Calderdale MBC |
| £0 | 0% |
Cambridgeshire County Council |
| - | - |
Canterbury City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Central Bedfordshire Council |
| £0 | 0% |
CENTRO (WEST MIDLANDS CA) |
| £0 | 0% |
Cheshire East |
| £0 | 0% |
Cheshire West and Chester |
| £0 | 0% |
City of York Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Coventry City Council |
| - | - |
Cornwall County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Cumbria County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Darlington Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Derby City Council |
| - | - |
Derbyshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Devon County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Dorset County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Durham County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
East Riding of Yorkshire Council |
| £0 | 0% |
East Sussex County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Eastleigh Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Epsom and Ewell |
| - | - |
Essex County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Gateshead MBC |
| - | - |
Gloucestershire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Halton Borough Council |
| - | - |
Hampshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Hartlepool Borough Council |
| - | - |
Havant Borough Council |
| - | - |
Herefordshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Hertfordshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Isle of Wight Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Kent County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Kettering Borough Council |
| - | - |
Kingston upon Hull City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council |
| - | - |
Lancashire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Leeds City Council |
| - | - |
Leicester City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Leicestershire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Lincolnshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Liverpool City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham |
| - | - |
London Borough of Barnet |
| £0 | 0% |
London Borough of Brent |
| £0 | 0% |
London Borough of Camden |
| - | - |
London Borough of Enfield |
| £0 | 0% |
London Borough of Harrow |
| £0 | 0% |
London Borough of Hillingdon |
| £21,666 | 100.0% |
London Borough of Hounslow |
| £0 | 0% |
London Borough of Islington |
| - | - |
London Borough of Merton |
| £0 | 0% |
London Borough of Newham |
| £0 | 0% |
London Borough of Redbridge |
| £10,000 | 22.3% |
Luton Borough Council |
| - | - |
Medway Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Merseyside Travel PTE |
| - | - |
West Yorkshire Combined Authority |
| £0 | 0% |
Middlesbrough Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Milton Keynes Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Newcastle City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Nexus |
| £0 | 0% |
Norfolk County Council |
| - | - |
North East Lincolnshire Council |
| £0 | 0% |
North Lincolnshire Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Northamptonshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
North Somerset Council |
| £0 | 0% |
North Yorkshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Northumberland County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Nottingham City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Nottinghamshire County Council |
| - | - |
Oxfordshire County Council |
| £58,927 | 7.4% |
Peterborough City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Plymouth City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Portsmouth City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Reading Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Rotherham MBC |
| £20,959 | 100.0% |
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead |
| £0 | 0% |
Rutland County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Salford City Council |
| £21,478 | 100.0% |
Sheffield City Council |
| - | - |
Shropshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Slough Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Somerset County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive |
| £0 | 0% |
Southampton City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
St Helens MBC |
| - | - |
Staffordshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Stockport MBC |
| - | - |
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Stoke-on-Trent City Council |
| - | - |
Suffolk County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Surrey County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Swindon Borough Council |
| £249 | 0.1% |
Telford and Wrekin Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Tameside MBC |
| - | - |
Thurrock Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Torbay Borough Council |
| - | - |
Transport for Greater Manchester |
| £0 | 0% |
Wakefield Council |
| £29,770 | 78.9% |
Warrington Borough Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Warwickshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
West Berkshire District Council |
| £0 | 0% |
West of England Combined Authority |
| £0 | 0% |
West Sussex County Council |
| £61,490 | 14.1% |
Wigan Council |
| - | - |
Wiltshire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Winchester City Council |
| £0 | 0% |
Wirral Borough Council |
| - | - |
Wokingham District Council |
| - | - |
Worcestershire County Council |
| £0 | 0% |
A dash indicates the local authority did not respond to the voluntary survey.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2022 to Question 14617, how much of the £525 million funding to deliver zero emissions buses has been allocated to local authorities as at 8 June 2022; and how much of that funding has been spent by local authorities on expenditure other than that which will deliver zero emissions buses.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We are providing over £525 million funding for zero emissions buses overthis Parliament.
In March 2021, the Government awarded £50 million of funding to the West Midlands Combined Authority to support the Coventry All Electric Bus City.
The Government has also announced nearly £270 million funding from the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme to 17 areas.
As set out in the guidance for the All Electric Bus City and ZEBRA schemes, the funding awarded was conditional on local transport authorities delivering on the business cases. The remaining funding will be allocated over the three year spending review period.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June to Question 14617, with reference to the £1.1 billion funding for bus transformation deals for local transport authorities, how much (a) has been allocated to local authorities as at 8 June 2022, and (b) has been spent by local authorities on expenditure other than that which will deliver (i) London-style fares, (ii) infrastructure, or (iii) service improvements.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
On 4 April 2022 the Government announced indicative funding allocations totalling over £1 billion to thirty-one Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to deliver Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs), as part of £3 billion for buses over the course of this Parliament. Confirmation and release of the funding is conditional on LTAs providing satisfactory plans showing how they intend to spend that funding, and submission of draft Enhanced Partnerships, Enhanced Partnership variations, or franchising delivery plans by 1 July.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 14 March 2022 to Question 136664, when he plans to make a decision on the Abbey Line bid to the Restoring Your Railway programme.
Answered by Wendy Morton
A Strategic Outline Business Case for the Abbey Line bid was submitted to the Department in March 2021 as part of the Restoring Your Railway programme. The SOBC has now been assessed. I wrote to you, the co-sponsoring MP and the promoter with the outcome ahead of the announcement made on 18 June 2022.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding the Government has provided to each local authority in England for local bus services in each of the last five years.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
All local authorities are required to publish details of their expenditure on buses. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities also publishes data on local authority expenditure.
The Government has committed £3 billion to transform bus services in this Parliament. This funding includes £1.1 billion new funding for bus transformation deals for local transport authorities to deliver London-style fares, infrastructure and service improvements; £525 million to deliver zero emission buses over this Parliament; and around £780 million from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements that will directly fund bus infrastructure.
The Government has also provided nearly £2 billion in emergency funding for local authorities and bus operators to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic since March 2020. £221 million of this emergency funding was provided directly to local transport authorities.
The Government also provides £42 million per year to Local Transport Authorities under the Bus Service Operators Grant. The Department for Transport publishes data on the funding given to Local Transport Authorities for the Bus Service Operators Grant on GOV.UK. Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bus-service-operators-grant-payments-to-local-authorities-from-2013-onwards.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the assisted speed limit of electric bikes in the UK to 20mph.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department’s position is that the safety disbenefits of doing so would outweigh the potential benefits.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government trials on e-scooters will conclude.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
E-scooter trials will run until 30 November 2022. This is the second extension to the trials and will allow us further opportunity to gather evidence. We have taken what we have learned from the trials to date and made some changes to ensure they are as safe and well run as possible.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of the DVLA on ensuring that drivers whose licences are due to expire by 31 August 2022 are notified of the expiry date.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency sends a renewal application form to all drivers who are due to renew their photograph on their licence and those due to renew their bus/lorry entitlement 56 days before the licence expires. Renewal application forms are sent to drivers aged 70 or over, or those renewing a medically restricted licence, 90 days before the licence expires. Renewal reminders can be used to renew a licence online or at a post office.